The Hunger Games Movie Review

M: Anyone who has read us consistently knows that all three of us are big fans of The Hunger Games book, and have been eagerly anticipating the movie.

E: Huge fans.  I found the series when the third in the trilogy (Mockingjay) came out and devoured them all.  Then I gave them to Mrs. M for her birthday, and M read them instead.

M: Not instead, just first.  Mrs M devoured them at almost the same time.  Get it straight.

E: Fine, whatever.  We spread the love to Mr E., our parents, C, her roommates, talked about it with Mr. E’s brother and nieces, with friends old and new…  Seriously, if you haven’t read the books, do it!  Do it now!

M: E and I, together with a bunch of friends, went and saw it on opening weekend.  C, unfortunately, could not make the several hour trip up to watch it with us.  We had a great time, and to avoid burying the lead, we all greatly enjoyed the movie.  That doesn’t mean we didn’t have our issues, which we’ll get into, but the important thing is that the issues that we did have are more nit-picky, and come from wanting the movie to be as good as the book, which is pretty much impossible.

Top Chef Texas: Finale

E: Oh the sweet relief.  I genuinely thought that Sarah was going to win.

M: Well, I wasn’t remotely sure, but I definitely thought that was a STRONG possibility, especially after Keith overcooked the second batch of Paul’s chawanmushi.  Thankfully, though, Paul pulled it off!

Top Chef: Boston, It’s Your Home

E and M: Those of you who read us might guess we’d be particularly delighted by the news that the Magical Elves who produce Top Chef are considering having the next season of the show in Boston. What could be better?  They’ve done New York, Chicago, Miami, San Fransisco and the entire state of Texas; can they really go ten seasons without coming here?

So, with that possibility in mind, here are just a few ideas for sites and challenges that the producers can use (we can provide great specifics if you want to chat, Tom Colicchio!).  There are plenty more, but we decided to trim it to *only* our top 25:

Top Chef Texas: Bike, Borrow & Steal

E: Despite the fact that I really, really don’t like Pee-Wee Herman and find him way more frightening than funny, this was a surprisingly watchable episode.

M: I’ve never had a problem with Pee Wee, actually.  I’ve never been the biggest fan, but he always came across as endearingly annoying, not grating.  Now on the other hand, the man who plays him,Paul Reubens, give me the creeps.  That said, this was a fun episode, with a particularly fun elimination challenge!  But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

February Movie Preview 2012

M: And we’re back with another monthly movie preview.  For those that are new to our previews, we don’t list all the movies that are opening this month, just the ones that are of interest to one or more of us, either because we want to see it or because we want to make fun of it or insult it.  It does usually include all the big releases, but especially E will usually throw in a bunch of awards-type movies and we even find the occasional little indie pic to comment on.  We also don’t break down the nitty gritty of the films, just give you some of the basics and provide our (hopefully) witty and/or snarky impressions.  So, without further ado…